Master trainer Bart Cummings and the Melbourne Cup appear to go hand-in-hand. But not in 2013.

For the first time since 2006, the Cups King will not have a runner lining up in the race that stops the nation.

No other trainer has come close to Bart's record of 12 Cup victories with the next best being Lee Freedman and Etienne de Mestre with five winners apiece.

Bart, who now trains in partnership with grandson James, appeared to be making a bid for a 13th Melbourne Cup when veteran galloper Precedence won the Moonee Valley Cup little more than a week ago.

A social media campaign started rallying public support to get Bart's horse into the race. But when final acceptances were announced on Saturday Precedence had missed out by just one place in the 24-horse field.

There are no emergencies or reserves in the Melbourne Cup so Precedence will remain horse number 25, and there will be no Cummings runner in 2013.

Time is against the 85-year-old Cups legend having another runner in the race in years to come so Grandstand has taken the opportunity to re-visit Bart's 12 Melbourne Cup wins.

It's a fundamental human yearning to be a part of something bigger than one's self, and maybe that's what drove my mate Ash to die, far from home, in a bloody foreign war against Islamic State, writes C August Elliott.